OK I have two doors (80"x36") I want to use end to end. Mating the two doors end to end with high precision is not an issue as I have this worked out. However my intial designs involved the track meeting perpendicular to the point where the doors are mated and using a small section of removable track/bed to line up adjoining connections. However this quickly limits my options in track laying as well as being a minor excersice in patients in setting back up. It also makes the area more unsightly. So the question posed is, can I build the entire layout over the mating point, then cut the track at the mating point (carefully) with a precision saw and have this work ok without earning the wrath of the track Gods at these mating points? I would like the ability to run a track 45 degrees through this point with a minimum amount of hassle when it comes time to move. The track will be mostly flextrack secured to WS trackbed with glue. Easy to fix or remove. Ideas welcome! Thanks! Mag Lev
There is no reason you cannot use a "joiner" track (perhaps a 6" or 9" section of Atlas snap track if HO) at something other than 90*... If you want to simply cut through the track, I suggest you find a way to secure it very well, such as soldering it to screws imbedded in the door's frame. Andrew
If you can affix the track very rigidly to what will be the ends of each door, then yes, you can lay the track over the gap, "weld" it down, and then slice the middle with a dremel / razor saw / similar. The trick is in the rigid affixing. Here I'm not so useful. I know that gluing to foam doesn't work, pinning to foam doesn't work, ... I've heard that soldering each rail to a screw into the timber, as suggested above, works. Also, you can take a blank Printed Circuit Board (PCB) glued or screwed or bolted to the timber, cut (or otherwise gap) the copper between the rails, and solder each rail to the board. For straight sections, rigid affixing isn't required, just cut and file smooth the ends, and use fishplates to join the tracks, and the flexing doesn't matter. Funnily, this doesn't work on curves.
It can be done with flex track. Soldering the track to brass screws is the most reliable way I've tried. I tried the PCB method and found it just got in the way of the scenery. Just solder the rails to the screws then cut the track over the join. Remember to cut each rail at right angles to the track directly above the join, not straght along the join. You don't want the rail forming a point. Cheers David
Along with all the real experience already given. I've never done what you are trying to do either. I would be tempted to put some rerailer sections on either side of the gaps, so that if anything did derail it would re-rail immediately.
All of these ideas sound good. I'm using a foam base so I'm not sure how well the screws would act but that did get me thinking. I could use some threaded piano wire bent at a 90 with two nuts and a small tube of brass to push the track over if it were to get out of whack. Once painted I could hide these real well with a shrub if need be. So far the adhesion on my test tracks has faired much better then I expected it. I use Elmers Wood Glue to glue the roadbed to the foam then glue the track which I pin into shape. Then I use WS gravel and white glue thinned to secure the balast. When this dries it seems fairly tough. If I snag the tracks it would come up but I could just reglue this instead of replacing bent track. For transport I'll use 1/4" MDF to cover the ends of the layout to minimize damage. Oops I did forget to mention that it's N scale but I guess the rules are still the same. Thanks for the ideas Gentlemen!
Rerailers are not necesary, and are unsightly. Modular layouts have been running quite happily for decades without them. This is one of my own recent modular projects, still unfinished. The track was laid continuous across the join, soldered to brass screws and then cut. The screws are now hidden in ballast. Cheers David
